The 10 most popular global travel destinations where your drink could be spiked
Neighbouring Indonesia tops the list, followed by the UK.
New research has exposed the dangerous and sometimes deadly occurrence of holiday drink spiking.
Analysts at finder.com.au scoured the Australian Bureau of Statistics' (ABS) top destinations for short-term resident departures and compared these with relevant Smartraveller warnings to find the leading travel destinations with drink spiking.
Around 1.25 million Aussies travelled to Indonesia in 2016, where drink spiking occurs frequently.
The next most-popular destination where this dastardly act often occurs is the United Kingdom, located in northwestern Europe, with more than half a million Australians visiting annually.
Seven out of the top 10 destinations were predominantly Asian countries.
Half (50%) of Australia’s 20 favourite international destinations have drink spiking listed as a warning on Smartraveller. This means over 4 million Australian travellers risk susceptibility to drink spiking each year.
It's not uncommon for insurers to reject travel insurance claims in the case of drink-spiking incidents.
finder.com.au spoke to Fast Cover Travel Insurance director Dean Vas Es about claims relating to alcohol.
"You're correct that there is a general exclusion for claims relating to alcohol," he said.
"However, if a sober traveller had their drink spiked and needed medical or hospital treatment, they may have provision to claim for those expenses. They would need to provide some supporting documentation to prove it was related to a drink spiking and not intoxication by alcohol or recreational drugs.
"In this scenario, a medical report from the hospital would help to substantiate their claim by showing the drug they were spiked with and their blood alcohol level. A police report would assist in substantiating the time, location and details of the incident. Generally the more documentation a traveller can provide to support their claim, the faster it's likely to be assessed."
Top 10 popular travel destinations with drink spiking warnings:
| Destination | Australian travellers |
|---|---|
| Indonesia | 1,254,300 |
| United Kingdom | 588,300 |
| Thailand | 529,100 |
| Japan | 358,500 |
| India | 322,600 |
| Malaysia | 259,300 |
| Vietnam | 246,800 |
| Hong Kong | 217,200 |
| Italy | 195,300 |
| Germany | 107,300 |
Picture: Shutterstock
